HMV Wealth Advisors LLC Takes Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

HMV Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 3,168 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,855,000. Meta Platforms makes up 1.9% of HMV Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of META. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after buying an additional 6,240,810 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,365,820,000 after purchasing an additional 4,126,190 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $2,243,603,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 87,269.8% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,067,659 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $625,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,437 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $520,662,000 after purchasing an additional 890,434 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 10,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $601.54, for a total transaction of $6,075,554.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total value of $547,995.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,024 shares in the company, valued at $19,649,280. This trade represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 631,415 shares of company stock valued at $414,365,524. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $582.36 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.35, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $656.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $604.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several recent research reports. Benchmark upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $718.31.

Meta Platforms Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.